I was thinking about the saturn vue hybrid and thought about how that technology could help a CRD. the biggest problem with EV is that you can't get much past the end of the driveway, going 1/2MPH, before it dies. so hybrid is the way to go I think. post your thoughts
the way I figure it, if one was to install a 20HP DC motor in place of the air conditioning compressor (or another good spot) it could relieve load on the engine. serpentine belts can transmit huge amounts of power, think of the belt driven supercharged engines, so 20hp is basically nothing. how it would work is that the diesel is fuel throttle, it will use how ever many HP less of fuel as the DC motor provides. turns out at 70MPH our little bricks-on-wheels need about 30-40HP just to cut through the air. so with 20 HP from the DC motor the engine will only need to provide 10-20HP, or half. and even then, when the batteries die the DC motor will spin free and the libby should drive like normal. then just plug it in to charge-up over night.
also as an assist only type system a PWM motor controller is not needed, a simple relay to turn on or off the motor is all that is needed for power control. so parts that are needed is a 20HP motor ($700) wires ($300) meters and other stuff ($500) charger ($no idea) and batteries ($60 each) one will need as many batteries as will power the car for however long a trip is required. e-volks.com has pre packaged kits in the 2-3000 range.
now onto the numbers, my CRD gets 29MPG on the highway at 70MPH. with 20 hP electric assist the MPG will jump to 47MPG. at the most efficient speed, 40 MPH, mileage could be as high as 56MPG. this increase in economy will save around $1000 per year in fuel costs. so that will cover the cost of install (maybe) in 3-4 years, just in time to replace the batteries again.
and all of this so far doesn't mention that the car now has 20 more hp and more torque (up to 90more lb/ft) to accelerate with.
am I the biggest hippie ever? maybe, I have an electric lawnmower and nothing I own uses gasoline. and my pool is solar heated. "were is my bandana and jean cut-offs, man"
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